


Unexpected

by tickedtabbyflower



Series: Confessions [1]
Category: Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 00:41:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7245313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tickedtabbyflower/pseuds/tickedtabbyflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armand comes to call, but his reasons were certainly not expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected

Marius hadn't expected anyone to find him, the studio apartment so unlike his other dwellings. The view of the city had drawn him, the taller buildings giving way to smaller ones on the outskirts until they finally overshadowed the river below. The river in question was wide enough to be seen from the apartment, the only indication the reflection of the lights off the surface and the occasional whitecaps that would appear.  
Armand stood at the glass, his reflection staring out into the abyss as he looked onto the city. Marius had taken the moment in, his intention to paint the scene another night. He leaned back as he rested his cheek on his knuckles. "I'm glad you found me, even if I didn't expect anyone to..." It was a smaller city, after all. He'd warned the vagrants to move on, find other dwellings. They could stay in the city, but the east side was his alone.  
"I had to..." Armand whispered, brown eyes surveying the scene a moment longer. "We were bound to have this conversation sooner or later,no?" Marius sighed, leaning forward. "I suppose we were.."He confirmed softly. "You didn't search for me, did you..? You didn't search for any of us..."Those eyes, so deep, held the hurt as if he'd already answered. "I did, but I began to drift. Every vagabond I ran across had tales of the demon coven leader with an angel's face, but each coven I ransacked was already falling apart and you were nowhere to be seen." He replied, chin now resting on his clasped hands. "I began searching for Pandora, as more news of her had come than of you..." That look didn't soften.  
Armand turned back to the window. He huffed, one of the mortal expressions of upset he still had. After a moment, he turned back. "I had hoped that my children would've been safe with you. I had intended on telling you then.." He flinched, those initial words coming almost as harshly as a slap. "You would've let them die and then... I didn't want you to feel the loneliness I had imposed on you..." Armand shook his head, his gaze going to survey the city once more. "I would've let them die, yes, but I wouldn't have been lonely..." Marius waited, the realization of his words dawning on him. "You already had an immortal companion..." Armand didn't move for a long moment. He finally turned, eyes heated. "They'd taken me and locked me in the cell, but their intuition wasn't quite as I had told." He started. "They'd kept Riccardo from the rest, likely for the same reasons they'd kept me. It had been months with only little amounts of blood here and there, mostly from innocents, but event then I knew it was him. They gave me the choice, either join them or watch him die. I was starved and delirious, near insanity. I did not doubt that they would've thrown him in there with me in that state, would've let the hunger take over me to kill my own." Marius listened, enrapt even with the horror of the tale. This was Armand, his fledgling gone to be replaced with a coven master and this was how it had been done. He sighed.  
After a pause, he spoke. "You were in the coven for a long time.." Armand nodded. "Yes, I was." "...You didn't kill him.." He concluded. A shake of auburn curls and a softening was his response for a moment. "No, but they wouldn't let him go. He knew too much." Marius felt his heart skip at that, his fear that the story was about to turn. "They..killed him?" Another shake of auburn curls, so very slight, as Armand turned back out the window. His hand rested on the glass.   
Marius stood, his hands opening in a pleading fashion. "Why didn't you tell me?" It was Armand's turn to sigh, the movement so subtle. "He asked me not to." He replied softly. "He finally agreed to let me tell you, to confess such. He'd been my foundation for so long.." Marius stopped his movement. "I don't understand one thing." He spoke gently, his brow creasing. "Lestat had found you.."   
Armand scoffed before he could finish, a light glare aimed at his maker. "Lestat...embellishes his stories. Even you know that." He chided, giving Marius a sidelong glance. "Riccardo had been out hunting when your darling Lestat came waltzing in. When he returned the coven was in shambles and I was nearly mad once more, driving the younger ones into the fire. It was only his reasoning and comfort that kept me from following those who fled. Eleni never had reason to mention Riccardo to Lestat and fate's good humor kept them from crossing paths.." He sounded slightly amused as he looked to Marius. "We had fallen out for awhile, taking to our different roads. I had found Louis after and, when we'd parted company, had once more been reunited with Riccardo in Venice.." "Where is he now, then, if you two were together when you had Benji and Sybelle?" He asked hesitantly. Armand turned his full focus on Marius. "Come and see." He moved, hesitantly, towards the window, his excitement overshadowed by a certain apprehension and fear. He knew he'd disappointed Armand, but he'd never had guessed Riccardo was still alive.   
Looking out the glass, the city lights twinkled back at him. His eyes scanned the area, landing finally on a figure on the rooftop a little lower than his own. His vampiric eyes picked up the contours of that face, the dark hair he knew from so many centuries ago. His hand came to his mouth, the full shock and knowledge of what Armand told him hitting home. All the times he'd searched, all the minds he'd combed through, he'd dismissed any tales of a darker haired companion to the coven master. He'd only ever assumed it had been Santino. He backed away, seeing the anger that lingered in those features. Oh, how he'd failed them. His voice cracked, the whisper of a single world finally escaping him. "..Riccardo.."


End file.
